Rode Boompole Pro - DIY internal cabling?

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nickbeef

Active member
I just bought the Rode Boompole Pro, 10' carbon fiber... and I'm a little disappointed.

It has no internal cabling, but it was advertised that you cable it yourself. I figured that I could just run an XLR down the pole when ever I wanted. However, the internals of the pole are much too narrow, and instead you have to take apart the XLR housing and then it just barely fits, and the rubber end cap doesn't fit at all.

So now I'm looking at 10' coiled XLR cables at arround $50 a pop, hoping that maybe I can take apart the XLR housing, and that the coil will fit down the middle of the boom pole. God knows what the end of the cable hanging out the back will look like. I'm starting to think I should just return the Rode Boompole Pro and buy a $250 K-Tek pole, pre-coiled.

Anyone have any experience or suggestions with this?
 
nickbeef said:
I'm starting to think I should just return the Rode Boompole Pro and buy a $250 K-Tek pole, pre-coiled.
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That's what I'd do.
I have the RODE 10ft aluminum pole, and it's great for the price and also offers the ability to insert the cable (coiled or not) inside it.
But if you want coiled cable, maybe better to go with K-Tek directly. I went with RODE for the price, still not disappointed with it, but it's limited compared to the K-TEK.
 
In 36 years I have never used a boom with a cable inside and would imagine that it would rattle and create more problems than it solves.

For run and gun / news I tend to use a radio mic plug in for cable free operation.
 
I'm given to understand the poles with internal cables are a very American thing. A lot of us use them, a lot of other folks don't. Myself, never seen a pro sound guy, working in the the fourth largest city in the US, without an internally cabled pole.

Have the very old Rode pole myself, used to have a cable run through it that someone wired for me, was a pain (you had to manually deal with threading it through when extending/collapsing the pole, and coil it up when putting the pole away), I was always a little worried it would cause sound issues, I think eventually it did, or maybe one of the pieces on the XLR connector at one end came off leaving connector guts exposed, and I figured "eff it" and snipped the end and took the cable out. I only ever use it on a C-stand/boom holder anyway. But yes, someday I'd like the 9 ft K-tek with the internal cable.
 
My internal cabled pole uses a flow-thru straight cable design rather than a coiled cable. Nothing wrong with a coiled cable boom pole if that is what you need. I just don't need it for what I do.

FWI nickbeef.... Feeding your cable is as simple as opening the XLR connector on one end of the cable, de-soldering the cable, feeding the cable through the pole, and then re-soldering the cable and closing up the connector. It is a 6 minute job at best.

All the best!

Dave
 
ha ha. "gibber gabber"... not sure what that means.

I really don't specialize in audio. I'm a cinematographer, but I have a commercial production company, and so I need just enough audio equipment to get by. If someone want top quality audio, they can hire a sound guy.

But, back to the question, why would an internal coiled cable make more sound? I figured that the external cable could "slap" against the boom pole when your moving it, and also, sounds from your hands or body could travel up the cable when wrapped from the outside? Like I said I'm not an audio expert, so you guys probably know something that I don't.

In all honesty, I'd be happier not having to return the Rode Boompole Pro and not spending more money. I just don't want to regret what I bough thinking that I should have bought something better.
 
nickbeef said:
ha ha. "gibber gabber"... not sure what that means..
Click to expand...

Is the user going to be a pro who sets a length needed, or someone who is going to fiddle around with the length of the boom trying to figure out what might be best?

If the later then an internal coiled boom might be best.



nickbeef said:
why would an internal coiled cable make more sound? I figured that the external cable could "slap" against the boom pole when your moving it, and also, sounds from your hands or body could travel up the cable when wrapped from the outside?.
Click to expand...

Because a coiled cable can slap around inside the pole unless you get a really nice setup which means more money. Once you have established your boom length you quickly wrap the cable around the boom so there is no slap against it. The operator can wear gloves which help to stop any handling noise.
 
If you want an internal cabled boom and see this in time B&H are running a special on K-Tek's aluminum boom for $120 bucks. But just ofor a few more hours.
 
If the boom op is inexperienced, you'll likely get noise regardless of the cable or pole used. That's one of the reasons pro boom ops get big $$$. If it's a static position on a stand, it won't matter much.
 
I will also add that in my case I do a considerable amount of MS recording. And rather than have a dedicated MS wired boom sitting around unused at times, I keep an unwired boom pole which can be configured as needed for the job.
 
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